You ain't ever seen a 303 British like this before...

[engineer40]

Finally got my 1943 303 British mostly back together. I'm not done with the bolt yet and do not have the scope back on it yet. Other than that, she's coming together nicely! Looks real good in person!

I've done all the work just in my spare time. Which I have none of... So I usually end up working on it after the rest of the family is sleeping and just end up being tired all the time. I've done all of the work in my pole barn or in my basement.

I cut the group size in half just by giving it a full length bed job and free floating the barrel. These have a rear locking lug, so they are really served well by good bedding.

With the new muzzle brake and custom recoil pad, it's a comfortable rifle to shoot a lot.

I'm an amateur with this stuff. I work with computers as my 9-5 so this is quite an accomplishment for me.

My Dad had this rifle when I was young. He used it for what I hear many of you refer to as a "truck gun". Just beat it up and didn't care about it. He needed some money last summer so I bought it off him. He is going to poop when he sees this thing again.

The rifling and bore are in phenomenal shape. She's a great shooting mil-surp rifle.

Just got my reloading dies in last week. Time to start seeing just how good I can get this old girl to shoot!

 

[rickiesrevenge]

Looks sharp! How did you paint the stock?

Aaron

 

[RT2506]

That really looks nice. I have collected old military rifles for a long time and shoot them all. Here are some things I have found for the 303 British. Do not full length size your cases. Shoot some ammo in your rifle then only do with I call part size the case. Set your FL die so it just sizes the neck without doing anything to the shoulder and see it is will chamber. If it will not just screw the die down enough to slightly bump the shoulder to allow it to chamber. These rifles have VERY sloppy chambers and the cases really grow. If you full length your cases they will not last much over 2 firings. Next thing to do is slug your bore to see what diameter bullet you actually will need. These rifles vary as to bore size. I have seen them that need .308 up to .312. Take a egg shape lead fishing weight or muzzle loader ball at least .313 in diameter but not over .315 and drop it into the chamber with the bolt removed. Take wooden dowel rods that will just fit inside the bore and drive the lead slug all the way through the bore. Measure the slug between the high spots which are what went into the grooves. This will let you know what your grove diameter is and use a bullet equal or 1 thousand larger. In my experience they like the 174 gr and heaver bullets with powders in the IMR 4064 to IMR 4350 burn rate. Have fun.

 

[engineer40]

Looks sharp! How did you paint the stock?

Aaron

Thanks! It's a synthetic stock. So I started by cleaning well with Denatured Alcohol. I laid down 2 coats of primer formulated for plastic. The paint is just cheap textured Rustoleum. But I agree, it looks really nice... especially in person. Then 3 layers of clear coat to protect it from the cleaning solvents.

I sandblasted the muzzle brake, barrel, magazine, and action; then Duracoated with Flat Black.

That really looks nice. I have collected old military rifles for a long time and shoot them all. Here are some things I have found for the 303 British. Do not full length size your cases. Shoot some ammo in your rifle then only do with I call part size the case. Set your FL die so it just sizes the neck without doing anything to the shoulder and see it is will chamber. If it will not just screw the die down enough to slightly bump the shoulder to allow it to chamber. These rifles have VERY sloppy chambers and the cases really grow. If you full length your cases they will not last much over 2 firings. Next thing to do is slug your bore to see what diameter bullet you actually will need. These rifles vary as to bore size. I have seen them that need .308 up to .312. Take a egg shape lead fishing weight or muzzle loader ball at least .313 in diameter but not over .315 and drop it into the chamber with the bolt removed. Take wooden dowel rods that will just fit inside the bore and drive the lead slug all the way through the bore. Measure the slug between the high spots which are what went into the grooves. This will let you know what your grove diameter is and use a bullet equal or 1 thousand larger. In my experience they like the 174 gr and heaver bullets with powders in the IMR 4064 to IMR 4350 burn rate. Have fun.

Thank you! I have some other mil-surp rifles and will not modify any of them. (Including a 1903a3 I bought from my wife's great uncle that's almost museum quality. He paid $10 for it in the 1950's and never shot it once). This one however already had the wood stock cut, the sights and bayonet were missing, and the receiver had been drilled. So any "collector" value was already gone.

My Dad stated it shot best with 180gr lead bullets measuring .312. I did get a box of those. But just shooting the cheap Prvi 174gr jacketed factory stuff, I was getting almost 1 inch groups at 100 yards. Of course that's after I bedded it. Before I did any bedding work it was shooting all over the place. If nothing else this project REALLY proved to me that having a loose fit between receiver and stock can wreak havoc on groups.

Thanks again for the reloading details. What's your theory on some people saying that you can safely load 303's quite a bit hotter than any available published reloading data? I always lean to the side of safety first, but I've read quite a few places that guys are loading these hot almost as standard practice. At the end of the day I don't need it to be a 30-06. I already have a couple of those. However I am curious your thoughts on loading the 303 hotter than what's published.



I do really like this rifle a lot for some reason. I'm sure it's a combination of me having memories shooting it with my Dad and the fact that people always start chatting with me about it at the range. People can tell it's not your normal Remington 700, but they really don't know what it is. I like to tell them it's a military rifle from 1943 and I have about $260 into the whole thing. That always piques peoples' curiosity.

 

[shortgrass]

I'd not exceed piblished reloading data. Even adding propellant in small increments can increase pressures drastically. You said it yourself, it has rear locking lugs. It has a split bridge, too. And, to top it off, it was made under war time pressure (1943?). The manufacture of steel and the quality of it (the steel) has improved greatly, as has heat treating, since that rifle was made. Besides, best acuracy is usually achieved somewhat below max charges. Better safe than sorry....

 

[engineer40]

For those of you who are unaware, the 303 British is well known as being a very fast bolt action rifle. It holds 10 rounds and also the action itself is designed so the bolt moves to a lesser degree than most other bolt actions. Plus it is a "cock on closing" not a "cock on opening" like most of us are used to. When you pop the bolt up, it springs rearward by itself.

The solders used to do a training drill called the Mad Minute. I think the record is over 30 something hits on a target at 300 yards in under 1 minute using iron sights. That's **** impressive considering they needed to keep the stripper clips in their ammo pouch!

 

[shortgrass]

When I was in gunsmithing school, 22-23 yrs. ao., we were forbiden to use the British Lee Enfields, no matter what the vintage. The Mosin-Nagant was frowned upon, too. We were allowed to use '98 Mausers, '03 and '03A3 Springfields, Model 1914s and Model 1917s, and any commercial or custom action available. I stated the reasons above,,,,,, rear locking lugs and the split bridge.

 

[mountainman56]

Very nice indeed. I have shot MANY old .303's (seems everybody in Canada had one) in years past and always had a soft spot for them. Most were sporterized and ugly and looked nothing like yours. Did have one original in museum quality that I still kick myself for letting go.

 

[trebark]

Wow, awesome rifle! surprised you found a synthetic stock for it. One of my personal favorite hunting stories involved a 303british. A buddy had one. It was horribly accurate but it was all he had, so he hunted with it. One day, I was watching over a field and had shot and killed a good size whitetail doe at ~200 yards with http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-280-updated-32771/. I radioed my buddy with the 303 and told him to get down to this field as the herd of deer were just standing in the field looking at their dead friend on the ground. My buddy arrived and started shooting ~100 yards. Despite his best efforts, he was not able to hit any of the 6 or 8 deer in the field. He has since retired the rifle and now carries a savage 30-06.

 

[engineer40]

I'd not exceed piblished reloading data. Even adding propellant in small increments can increase pressures drastically. You said it yourself, it has rear locking lugs. It has a split bridge, too. And, to top it off, it was made under war time pressure (1943?). The manufacture of steel and the quality of it (the steel) has improved greatly, as has heat treating, since that rifle was made. Besides, best acuracy is usually achieved somewhat below max charges. Better safe than sorry....

I concur. You and I are on the same thought process with this one. I have plenty of more powerful rifles if I need one. Thanks for your response shortgrass.

When I was in gunsmithing school, 22-23 yrs. ao., we were forbiden to use the British Lee Enfields, no matter what the vintage. The Mosin-Nagant was frowned upon, too. We were allowed to use '98 Mausers, '03 and '03A3 Springfields, Model 1914s and Model 1917s, and any commercial or custom action available. I stated the reasons above,,,,,, rear locking lugs and the split bridge.

I'm not sure what you mean by you were forbidden to use them? Meaning your teachers wouldn't let you shoot them? Or just wouldn't let you use them for class projects?

I fully realize the 303's have their own set of issues. However I most definitely hold them in a higher class of rifle than the Mosin Nagants. Without any trigger work on my 303 it breaks at 3lbs every time. My Mosin is above 10lbs and is gritty and nasty. Cycling the bolt on my 303 is as smooth as any modern bolt action I own. After trying every trick I have found online to make it better, I still sometimes feel the need to beat my bolt handle up with a 2x4 to cycle the Mosin. The rifle is just hard to cycle and is crude. I still have a good time shooting it though.

And I wholeheartedly agree that the 1903's and Mausers are well above both.

Very nice indeed. I have shot MANY old .303's (seems everybody in Canada had one) in years past and always had a soft spot for them. Most were sporterized and ugly and looked nothing like yours. Did have one original in museum quality that I still kick myself for letting go.

I hear ya... I wish my Dad would have never modified this one. My Dad had an FFL license for around 8 years while I was young and moonlighted by selling some guns and mostly reloading supplies. He was buying these 303's for $65 back then. For $75 you could have a 303 hand picked for you that was in great shape. (AK's and SKS's were under $100 also, FFL price). He ordered 6 of the "hand picked" ones at the same time once. The one that looked the nicest and shot the tightest group he kept; then sold the rest. He never thought twice to hack it up because it was only $75. Oh well... That is the rifle I now own. But if he had hindsight, this 303 would probably be worth over $600 today if he would have left it alone.

Wow, awesome rifle! surprised you found a synthetic stock for it. One of my personal favorite hunting stories involved a 303british. A buddy had one. It was horribly accurate but it was all he had, so he hunted with it. One day, I was watching over a field and had shot and killed a good size whitetail doe at ~200 yards with http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-280-updated-32771/. I radioed my buddy with the 303 and told him to get down to this field as the herd of deer were just standing in the field looking at their dead friend on the ground. My buddy arrived and started shooting ~100 yards. Despite his best efforts, he was not able to hit any of the 6 or 8 deer in the field. He has since retired the rifle and now carries a savage 30-06.

Ha! That's a great story! But are you sure it wasn't your friend's shooting skills? lol.

It's well known that many of these old war 303's are pretty darn inaccurate. I've heard stories of the bores being way over sized. But I think even the bad ones could shoot Minute Of Deer!

 

[Jud96]

That really looks nice. I have collected old military rifles for a long time and shoot them all. Here are some things I have found for the 303 British. Do not full length size your cases. Shoot some ammo in your rifle then only do with I call part size the case. Set your FL die so it just sizes the neck without doing anything to the shoulder and see it is will chamber. If it will not just screw the die down enough to slightly bump the shoulder to allow it to chamber. These rifles have VERY sloppy chambers and the cases really grow. If you full length your cases they will not last much over 2 firings. Next thing to do is slug your bore to see what diameter bullet you actually will need. These rifles vary as to bore size. I have seen them that need .308 up to .312. Take a egg shape lead fishing weight or muzzle loader ball at least .313 in diameter but not over .315 and drop it into the chamber with the bolt removed. Take wooden dowel rods that will just fit inside the bore and drive the lead slug all the way through the bore. Measure the slug between the high spots which are what went into the grooves. This will let you know what your grove diameter is and use a bullet equal or 1 thousand larger. In my experience they like the 174 gr and heaver bullets with powders in the IMR 4064 to IMR 4350 burn rate. Have fun.

Haha my No.1 Mk.III has a .308 bore diameter, which is nice haha. I shoot either 150gr FMJs or 175gr Match bullets. It shoots excellent and I use either IMR 4064 or 4320. I also only neck size because like you said the chambers are very sloppy. They did this so dirty ammunition that was muddy and/or bloody could feed and function without problems. It is deadly accurate and I shot a no BS 1/4" 3 shot group off my elbows at 50yds with it. I couldn't believe it. Even out to 500yds (farthest I've shot it) I could still hit milk jugs just shooting prone. When you get the right bullets and a good load, they are impressive!

 

[engineer40]

My little Lee Enfield project had got put on the back burner for quite a while. I was going through some of my old targets that I had saved and saw some that I had shot with my 303 Brit. Not bad groups for an old war rifle. But over an inch at 100 yards for sure. Some groups got close to 1 inch, but most of them were 1.5 inches to 1.75 inches.

I remembered I had some Tubb's Final Finish bullets in .312 caliber. So I loaded them up a few weeks ago and went through the whole process... and what a process it is. I forgot how long it takes to clean & shoot & clean & shoot & clean & shoot...

It had got too dark and I never got to shoot an "after" group. Until today!

With cheap Prvi ammo I clover leafed 4 shots at 100 yards! Wow! With a clean and cold barrel the very first shot was a tad away from the group. But shots 2-5 made 1 hole!

Yes I just clover leafed cheap factory ammo out of a rifle that was made in 1943! I regret only bringing a partial box of ammo to the range tonight. I didn't have any more to keep testing.

I really do like the way this rifle turned out from the work I put into it. I have a SWFA 10x scope on it currently. Now that it's shooting so sweet, I'm going to have to chrono some loads and stretch it out further!

Did I mention that the action is incredibly smooth and the magazine holds 10 rounds? I think this just turned into my favorite mil-surp rifle.

 

[engineer40]

Also wanted to add 1 additional thing to the post I just made.

This was my 3rd time trying the Tubb's Final Finish system. The first 2 times it didn't help nearly as much as it helped my old Lee Enfield. I was actually not that much of a believer in fire lapping until now.

 

[WildRose]

Beautiful job and you're right, I've never seen a .303 like that before.

One note of caution on your reloading. That is not the strongest of bolt actions so you probably don't want to run maximum loads in it for safety's sake.

I too have an appreciation of old military rifles so I applaud your ingenuity.